dykes is dead. killed in the raid that freed that little boy. they used secret cameras to watch dykes, noticed he was acting erratically and that time may had been running out. victor blackwell is live. what a relief for this family. victor, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, brooke. yes, not only for the family, but for the entire community. people across the country, even in other countries, were following this story, and commenting and praying that they were hoping ethan would be able to come home soon. two reasons why this happened when it did. first, we're told that communications with jimmy lee dykes broke down in the day leading up to the raid and the more important reason, they saw he had a gun and he had to go in when they did to save ethan. ethan is safe. this is a photograph of the 5-year-old being taken to a hospital after being held hostage for nearly a week in an underground bunker in midland city, alabama. >> he is doing fine. he's laughing, joking, playing, eating. things that you would expect a normal 5 to 6-year-old young man to do. he's very brave. he's very l